Server Version#: 1.41.2.9200
iOS Version: 18.1.1
Plex iOS version: Latest version
Below is my description of this issue, after which I will list my settings for my Plex Media Server and my computer server specs, in case that sheds any light on the issue. I am attaching the Plex PMS log that shows activity from 5:30pm to about 5:33. During this time I first disabled automatic adjust quality and successfully played/transcoded a 4K file (Training Day) and then enabled ASQ and attempted to play the same file, which failed. That log is here. Please exclude my ignorance, I do not know which log is the client one, but I can upload this once I am told which file it is:
Plex Media Server.log (875.0 KB)
My query in a nutshell:
I have Plex pass, I am running the latest PMS version (1.41.2.9200) and I have remote streaming successfully set up with port forwarding. Over my iPhone’s 5G connection or iPad using the 5G hotspot, I can successfully and quickly stream 1080p files in relatively high quality using the 40 Mbps remote streaming option, Automatically Adjust Quality option enabled, and limit cellular data disabled. When I attempt to stream any 4K movie with these settings, it buffers for 10 to 30 seconds and then I get the message “Something went wrong playing your media. Please try again.” If I downgrade to 10 Mbps or even 720p, they still do not play, but I see that the server is attempting to transcode them using hardware. I have only got one 4k movie to play, and it was rather low bitrate and a smaller file size of 10 GB, but it looked good.
With automatically adjust quality disabled, the 4k files load rather speedily and stream consistently, at least at 10 Mbps speed. 40 Mbps can be less consistent but certainly still night and day from automatic quality enabled. One only difference I can see between transcodes via the dashboard is that with automatic quality enabled Plex transcodes TrueHD audio as “ACC —Transcode”, while with this setting disable it transcodes the same audio as “OPUS—Transcode”. Neither audio transcodes indicate hardware transcoding, but video transcoding under both settings does indicate hardware being used.
Finally, running a speed test on my iPhone, I get anywhere from 100 to 300 Mbps down (changes per speed test), and roughly 2 Mbps down. On my iPad using the hotspot, I get about 60 Mbps down, and 1.15 Mbps up. Testing 4k files on both devices with automatic quality enabled results in the same behavior.
My question is, wouldn’t the automatically adjust quality setting being enabled actually be the better option here? Why is it that this is the setting preventing these 4k files from being played back? Is it something to do with the transcoder settings or my computer specs listed below? Any perspective would be greatly appreciated.
My transcoder settings are:
- Transcoder Quality: Automatic
- Transcoder temporary directory: Blank
- Transcoder default throttle buffer: 60
- Background transcoding x264 preset: Medium
- Enable HDR tone mapping: Disabled
- Disable video stream transcoding: Disabled
- Use hardware acceleration when available: Enabled
- Use hardware-accelerated video encoding: Enabled
- Hardware transcoding device: Intel(R) UHD Graphics 630
- Maximum simultaneous video transcode: 10
My computer specs are:
- Intel i7-8700K
- Using the UHD Graphics 630 iGPU
- 32 GB DDR-3000 RAM
- Media playing off a 7200rpm 12 TB drive
- Directly connected to router via 1Gbps ethernet
